appreciated chiefly by apes. The forest, however, supplies a
multitude of wild growths, which seem to distinguish this section
of the coast, and which are eaten with relish by the people.
Amongst them are the Sango and Nefu, with pleasant acid berries;
the Ntaba, described as a red grape, which will presently make
wine; the olive-like Azyigo (Ozigo?); the filbert-like Kula, the
"koola-nut" of M. du Chaillu ("Second Expedition," chap, viii.),
a hard-shelled nux, not to be confounded with the soft-shelled
kola (Sterculia); and the Aba, or wild mango (Mango Gabonensis),
a pale yellow pome, small, and tasting painfully of turpentine.
It is chiefly prized for its kernels. In February and March all
repair to the bush for their mango-vendange, eat the fruit, and
collect the stones: the insides, after being sun-dried, are
roasted like coffee in a neptune, or in an earthern pot. When
burnt chocolate colour, they are pounded to the consistency of
thick honey, poured into a mould, a basket lined with banana
leaves, and set for three days to dry in the sun: after this the
cake, which in appearance resembles guava cheese, will keep
through the year.

For use the loaf is scraped, and a sufficiency is added to the
half-boiled or stewed flesh, the two being then cooked together:
it is equally prized in meat broths, or with fish, dry and fresh;
and it is the favoured kitchen for rice and the insipid banana.
"Odika," the "Ndika" of the Bakele tribes, is universally used,
like our "Worcester," and it may be called the one sauce of
Gorilla-land, the local equivalent for curry, pepper-pot, or
palm-oil chop; it can be eaten thick or thin, according to taste,
but it must always be as hot as possible. The mould sells for
half a dollar at the factories, and many are exported to